~ Financial suicide – every moment, until you quit!

Monthly Archives: January 2013

When I was an IBO and probably even now, the biggest boasting from all Amway IBOs, was about the possibility of a passive income for anyone who he is willing to work hard. The income was promised to be transferred for three generations down (children and grandchildren) from the work done by an IBO. How far is it true and how many achieve it in reality? Just like any other innocent ambitious IBO I did believe such things happen, and I can achieve the same. But after a couple of months, doubts started coming in. My up line was sharp enough to understand such anxiety and started asking to read more books and listen more CDs along with being in his touch more often. Sounded nice, but in reality I could not get my answers at all! Now I realise it hardly happens to anyone, most of the diamonds quit!
When we shared our business plan with various success examples in franchising and others. The plan had examples of McDonald’s and Cafe Coffee Day, etc. We always told about how difficult to open a franchise for such companies. Even though profitability is nearly a certainty, common man could never afford to dream anything of such sorts. Then what is the problem with present job or the profession he is in, not everyone can be a millionaire as such. The present job does not create assets, or a transferable income. Same old story of Harry Potter writer JK Rowling and she wrote the book once. The money continues to flow in forever or presumably forever, as long as book is purchased by someone somewhere in the world. Another example was building a house or commercial space and let it out for rent, the effort is only once money keeps flowing in until the building remains good for occupation. Or if you are a renowned singer, you can sing once and every time it’s purchased you get money. But through the present source of income and talent that I possess I cannot create such passive income for my family. But through Amway, you get a chance to learn the business if you do not have business background, or your conventional business background may not help so easy to learn from the people who succeeded in Amway. But unfortunately, none of these are close to reality!
No one is permanent in Amway, my up line did not ask me to sponsor at width but only in depth. Neither I made the money I could have nor did the downlines stay with me. If that’s the case for me, how do you expect all the downline platinums to work with you to gain their own diamond pin. In front of my eyes, I saw one of my cross line at 15% pin level quit in my sponsor up line LOS. My up line talked about so many things, made Amway a central thing in his life could not achieve gold pin even after two years of becoming Silver! I knew a platinum who had reached the pin level could not even become a founders platinum. My question is, once you become a platinum, then you should have all the skills to do basics of Amway business and all systems teach the same things and the basics remain same over many many years in Amway. And he has the same up line inner circle and knows the up line diamond personally as well.
In reality I have seen many platinums quitting; and I guess at least two-thirds of the IBOs quit in first three months and rest quit at various point of time in their business depending on their level of success and ability to realise failure and losses. After achieving diamond pin, that needs to be sustained. If no pin level can be sustained without efforts, how come diamond income will remain when the diamond is on the beaches of the world, enjoying 365 days of Sundays!? If you look at the Business Reference Guide in Amway US website, it clearly tells how the income calculation is done all over the world. Most of the times, so called passive income component goes to up lines! The same can be found in the blog for the reference of readers. I keep hearing about bankruptcy declaration by Amway big pins! Practically, passive income is myth. I know Bill Gates may have it or some 1000 riches all around the globe! But has it happened to people in different fields and businesses! How come Amway apologists claim that every hardworking IBO can achieve passive income? As I pointed out in this post earlier, if the so dedicated IBOs cannot change their pins for years together why claim passive income stories? How can Amway IBOs can make what very few people all around the world have done so far. Bill Gates or Warren Buffet worked for decades together to get there. But they created assets not only handful of hardworking people. what is there in Amway? CDs and crappy books and luxurious FMCG which are the most difficult things to sell in public. All in all, the concept of passive income is nearly un-realistic and in Amway it becomes nearly improbable. There comes the concept of ‘faith’, you need to have faith and belief to get the success! True anything that cannot be explained with substance the faith is required to believe.